Celebrate Women in Open Source on Jan 28th

Less than two years ago, the San Francisco Ruby Meetup routinely drew just one or two women to an event of 50 people or more. Female attendance at regional conferences hovered at 3%, sadly reflecting the number of women participating in open source. Sarah Mei and I decided to do something practical — we decided to teach what we knew to women who wanted to learn.

Twelve workshops and six hundred students later, we’ve seen a transformation in our small community: meetups now routinely draw 15-20% women. And now our workshop recipes are starting to make a difference elsewhere.

In response to overwhelming demand — every workshop has a long wait list — an amazing number of volunteers have stepped up. Both women and men have answered the call to make a difference. Our volunteer base includes experienced developers, CTOs, aspiring developers and even non-developers willing to help with whatever just needs doing. We want to draw women into the industry and help those already in it sharpen their skills. Part of that is celebrating our volunteers who have made this effort possible.

So, men and women, ladies and gentlemen, please join us for dinner in celebrating the THIRTY women who over the past two years have volunteered their time organizing, teaching, TAing, and helping to make this change happen. We’re excited to hold this event in conjunction with She’s Geeky.

We’ve spent more effort on events than on keeping lists, so please let me know if I’ve missed anyone. Here are the women who have made this possible. Roughly in order of appearance: